Annual driving costs have gone down for the first time in four years, according to AAA Carolinas.

Gas prices, maintenance, insurance, taxes and other operating and ownership costs all play a role.

"The decrease in vehicle costs is great news for North Carolina drivers," said Dave Parsons, president and CEO of AAA Carolinas. "Driving costs had been rising steadily since 2009, and now motorists are finally seeing some relief."

Though maintenance costs did go up 11 percent from last year, the cost of tires remained the same and insurance went down. Insurance premiums for sedans fell from $647 annually last year to $619 this year, according to AAA Carolinas.

The drop wasn’t just for sedans, however. Drivers of minivans and SUVs will see lower costs, too.

The total cost to drive a minivan dropped from 76 cents per mile last year to 67 cents per mile this year.

Likewise, The total cost to drive an SUV dropped from 86 cents per mile last year to 79 cents per mile this year.

Behind depreciation, the most costly aspect of driving is gas.

Gas prices playing a role

This year, gas prices have also fallen, Angela Daley, public relations manager for AAA Carolinas, said.

“(Gas prices) are down 35 cents from where they peaked at the end of February,” Daley said. “This is due to an abundance of supply and low demand.”

But it’s still not up to what it was before the recession.

Oil prices had been less than $90 a barrel; now they’re at around $96 a barrel. So the prices look to remain steady, she said.

“Overall, we do expect gas prices to be lower in 2013 than what we saw in 2012,” Daley said. “Right now, we are 45 cents cheaper than a year ago. And we've been under last year's prices for the majority of 2013 so far.”

Right now in North Carolina, the current price for a gallon of regular unleaded is at $3.429. Last year about the same time it was $3.774.

Reach Lauren Baheri at 704-869-1842 or at Twitter.com/Lbaheri.

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Approximates based on the average sedan with 15,000 miles driven in a year